Trio of whisky appointments for Diageo
Drinks giant Diageo has unveiled appointments to what it described as “three of the most coveted jobs in the Scotch whisky industry”.
The firm has appointed the lead roles for the investment project to bring the iconic Port Ellen and Brora distilleries back to life, and a new manager for the Lagavulin Distillery on Islay.
Georgie Crawford, who has seven years’ experience of running the Lagavulin Distillery, will move to be project implementation manager, responsible for bringing Port Ellen Distillery back into production 35 years after it closed.
The equivalent job leading the revival of the Brora Distillery in Sutherland has been secured by Brora native Stewart Bowman, who moves from the management team at Clynelish Distillery to take on the role.
The Lagavulin distillery manager role, meanwhile, will be taken over by Colin Gordon, who will move from his previous job managing Diageo’s Port Ellen maltings on Islay, where the peated malt barley is made for Lagavulin and Caol Ila Distilleries.
Diageo – Scotland’s biggest whisky producer – announced last year that Port Ellen and Brora, which have been silent since they were closed in 1983, would be brought back into production through a £35 million investment.
Distillation and maturation director Keith Miller said: “Bringing Port Ellen and Brora distilleries back into production are dream jobs for any whisky-maker and I’m delighted to appoint Georgie and Stewart to these key leadership roles.”